Love Like This
by twinsorlovers
Summary: Lucy and Ian haven't been friends since the Chris Zylka situation. Once they rekindle their friendship and it becomes stronger than ever before, how long will it take until they come to terms with their true feelings for each other? Lucian story, so don't read if you don't like them.
1. Chapter 1

_As a little girl, you imagined what your wedding would be like when you grew up. Maybe you envisioned the typical princess wedding found in every storybook and fairytale you knew and loved. Or maybe you found yourself having a traditional wedding at a church with family and a handful of close friends. But as Lucy mentally prepared herself to walk down the aisle to marry the love of her life, she thought about how she envisioned this day when she was growing up, and how completely and utterly different that vision was from how things were happening. The wedding of Lucy Hale and Ian Harding would definitely be one of a kind._

* * *

_December 14th, 2013 (11 months earlier)_

Lucy stood in front of her full length mirror, examining the outfit that she put together for an ugly Christmas sweater party that Keegan was throwing that night. She was wearing, obviously, an ugly Christmas sweater that she had found in her closet the previous day, dark wash skinny jeans, and heeled black suede boots. Normally, Lucy would be nothing but excited for a party like this. But tonight, her nerves were getting the best of her for only one reason. Ian was going.

Lucy knew that it was stupid that Ian made her nervous, but she couldn't help it. When Lucy dated Chris, her and Ian's friendship broke apart into a million little pieces, and even though that trainwreck of a relationship ended over a year ago, the pieces were never put back together. Before Chris, Lucy and Ian were practically best friends. They talked about anything and everything, hung out on and off set, laughed and joked around together, and they trusted each other with their lives. But then Chris came along and ruined everything. Since then, Lucy and Ian's relationship was nothing more than seeing each other on set and filming the scenes they needed to film together, with maybe the occasional short conversation. And that was it. And it got progressively worse as time went on.

Ian and Lucy both had their reasons for not trying to work things out with each other. Lucy's being that she thought Ian hated her for shutting him out when she dated Chris and never had the guts to confront her after the break up. She was afraid of being rejected by him, so she assumed that it would just be better for them to carry on with their awkward on set relationship. And Ian just assumed that because Lucy never came to him after her breakup with Chris, she wanted nothing to do with him anymore. Not being friends killed the both of them, not only because they missed each other's friendship, but because deep down, they both knew that they'd always been in love with each other, though neither of them would ever admit it to anyone, including themselves.

Sighing, Lucy grabbed her purse and cell phone and tried her best to push her worries away as she made her way out to her car and drove to Keegan's house. On her way there, she turned on her favorite country radio station and smiled to herself when she heard one of her own songs playing. It made her feel so accomplished whenever she heard her songs on the radio. Coincidentally, it was a song that she had written about Ian when their friendship was falling apart. When she was writing it with her friend Kristian Bush, she had to excuse herself because she started crying. Ian meant the absolute world to her, and even now the song almost brought tears to her eyes.

_Maybe this is a sign_, Lucy thought to herself as the chorus of the song rang through her Prius. _Maybe fate is trying to tell me that tonight is the night I need to set things straight with Ian. _So, when she pulled up to Keegan's house, Lucy got out of her car feeling confident with the mindset that she _would_ make things right with Ian tonight, no matter what. And that thought put an overwhelmingly large smile on her face.

* * *

As Ian began his drive to Keegan's house, his thoughts and feelings were basically the same as Lucy's. He couldn't help but feel nervous to see her tonight, for reasons much like hers. Plus, he couldn't get his mind off of her lately. He even had country music playing in his car for the past few days just because Lucy got him into it and it made him have positive thoughts about her. When he was only a mere five minutes away from Keegan's house, one of Lucy's songs came on the radio. It was one of Ian's favorites of hers, because he had a feeling it was about him, though he'd never have the guts to ask Lucy if he was right. Ian had bought her album the day it came out; another thing Lucy didn't know.

_This song coming on the radio has to be more than a coincidence,_ Ian told himself as he tapped his fingers against the steering wheel to the rhythm of the song. _Maybe the universe wants Lucy and I to make up. _And just like that, Ian vowed to himself that he wouldn't go home until him and Lucy were friends again. He was tired of being a coward and watching Lucy live her life without him in it. And as he pulled up to Keegan's house and the song ended, and he saw the petite brunette walk into the door, he smiled a confident smile and made his way out of his car and into the party.

* * *

As soon as Lucy walked into Keegan's house, she started looking around for Ian. She needed to get to him before her sudden burst of confidence was lost. Before her eyes could sweep across the whole room, someone came up behind her and tapped her on her shoulder, causing her to jump slightly and turn around. Keegan was standing there with a goofy grin on his face. He was wearing one of the ugliest Christmas sweaters she had ever seen, causing Lucy to laugh lightly.

"Hey, Lucifer!" he exclaimed as he brought her into a hug. Lucy laughed as she hugged him back, but when she looked over his shoulder, she saw Ian, and she immediately stopped laughing. He was dressed in a Christmas sweater that, Lucy had to admit, looked insanely adorable on him, with a simple pair of jeans and converse sneakers on his feet. She dropped her arms from around Keegan and gave him a friendly smile.

"Hey, Keegs," she said slowly. Her eyes wandered to Ian again. _Good, _she thought to herself. _He hasn't seen me yet. _

"Can I catch up with you later?" Lucy asked distractedly, keeping her eyes on Ian. "I, uh, I have to do something right now." And before he could even respond, she quickly made her way over to Ian, leaving Keegan standing there alone. He watched Lucy walk over to Ian and smiled. Keegan had been hoping Lucy and Ian would rekindle their friendship sooner or later.

Ian finally spotted Lucy when she was only a few feet away from him. Even though they had barely spoken offset for over a year, Lucy couldn't control the urge she had to run up and hug him, so that's exactly what she did. She could tell Ian was taken aback by her bold move, but nonetheless hugged her back after a moment of hesitation. They just stood there for a minute, until Lucy stepped back and smiled sadly at him.

"I'm so sorry, Ian," she said, speaking softly and jumping right to the point. "I shouldn't have shut you out like that. It's just, Chris...he didn't like me seeing you, and, and once I broke up with him, I was afraid that you wouldn't want to talk to me _because _I shut you out. Fear of rejection, I guess. And I really, really miss you, and..." She continued babbling out an apology until Ian finally cut her off.

"Luce, it's okay, really. I'm not mad at you. I'm actually relieved. I thought you weren't talking to me because you hated me, but knowing you miss me makes me feel better, because I miss you too. A lot. You're like, my best friend."

And with that, Lucy threw her arms around him again and buried her face in his shoulder with a huge smile on her face. "You're my best friend too," she mumbled into his sweater. "But don't tell Claire or Annie that." They both laughed at her comment then pulled apart from their hug.

"I kind of rudely left Keegs to come talk to you, so I owe him an explanation of some sort, I think," Lucy said, smiling at Ian as she spoke. "Care to join me?"

Ian nodded immediately. "Yeah, definitely. I need to say hi to him anyways."

They made their way over to Keegan, Ian's arm draped around Lucy's shoulders in a friendly manner. Neither of them could wipe the smiles off their faces. Now that they were friends again, it was like the missing piece of the puzzle of their lives was put into place.

Keegan shot Lucy and Ian a grin when they approached him. "Glad to see you two all happy and friends again," he said excitedly. "I haven't seen either of you smile this much in forever."

Ian unwrapped his arm from around Lucy and they both laughed and shrugged.

"We were stupid for avoiding each other," Ian stated simply.

Lucy nodded in agreement and added, "It won't happen again."

* * *

Lucy and Ian didn't leave each other's sides the whole night. They just laughed and talked together like they had never stopped being friends; like old times. The two of them and Shay were the last ones at Keegan's house. All of his other friends had left, but the four of them had decided to hang out together since they hadn't seen each other since they wrapped season four. When Shay decided she should head home, Lucy and Ian said they better leave too. They all hugged each other and made their way out to their cars.

Once Shay had pulled out of Keegan's driveway and driven down the street, Ian leaned against his car, looking at Lucy, who stood in front of him.

"I'm so glad we're friends again, Shmian," Lucy said with a playful grin. She couldn't remember the last time she called him that.

Ian laughed at her use of his nickname as he nodded. "Me too, Lucy Goosey. I haven't had this much fun in a really long time," he said, pausing for a moment, then continuing. "Want to hang out tomorrow? Maybe go out for lunch or something? I feel like we still have a bunch of catching up to do."

Lucy nodded immediately. "Yeah, definitely!" she said enthusiastically. She couldn't contain her excitement. She was still so happy that they were friends again. "I'll text you tomorrow morning?"

"Sounds perfect," Ian said, giving her a small smile. They hugged one last time, got into their respective cars, and drove home, the both of them feeling happier than they had in a long, long time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry that I took so long to update this! I wasn't feeling inspired, but I have been recently. There's a part where Ian and Lucy are texting and I'm not sure if it's confusing, but whatever. Lucy's texts are in italics and Ian's are bolded. I know I'm not really a good writer, but I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The weeks following Keegan's Christmas party were blissful, but mostly uneventful. Ian and Lucy fell into a pattern of calling and texting each other everyday, and hanging out at least once a week to make up for lost time. Lucy hadn't felt so happy in what seemed like forever. The fact that she and Ian had rekindled their friendship made her feel on top of the world. She had no idea how or why he had that effect on her, but he did. Ian was such an important person to her and having his friendship made everything feel perfect; he was the missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle of her life.

With the rebirth of their friendship came something Lucy was not expecting and had been trying to ignore: feelings for Ian. She always knew that she and Ian had a great connection that worked really well on set, but she thought it was just good chemistry and acting on their part. There was always something there, but she had always thought nothing of it. But now emotions came crashing down on her at a million miles an hour, and she couldn't get them out of her mind. She didn't want to feel those feelings for Ian; she didn't want their friendship to be ruined. Lucy had never been scared by her feelings for anything until now. She usually embraced what she felt head on and dove straight into what she was passionate about, but this was completely different. Lucy was falling in love with her best friend and she didn't know what to do.

It was now December 31st, and Lucy stood in her room getting ready for yet another holiday party. Claire and Kurt were hosting a New Year's Eve party with a few people. It wasn't a huge party, like the Leahy annual Christmas party always was. It was just a get together with their usual small group of friends, plus Tyler Blackburn and of course, Ian. Ian and Claire had always gotten along, their witty senses of humor striking up a bond between them. Plus, Claire could see that he genuinely cared about Lucy, and she liked that about him; she knew he was a good friend for Lucy. So she was happy when Lucy asked her if he could come.

Lucy had several different dresses laid out on her bed, debating which one to wear. For some reason, she felt obligated to look her best for this party, even though it was just going to be with her closest of friends. She knew that the reason was probably that she wanted to impress Ian, but she disregarded that thought. After trying them all on numerous times, she still hadn't made a decision. So, she took an individual picture of herself wearing each dress then sent them all to Ian, asking which one he liked the best. She knew he probably wasn't the best person to ask for fashion advice, but Annie was at her sister's house for the day, and Claire was busy getting ready for that night. So, Ian would have to do. Plus, he was a guy. He knew what looked attractive on girls. Or at least that's what Lucy hoped. Minutes later, Lucy received a reply from Ian:

**You do realize that you just asked me, Ian Harding, who owns a maximum of five shirts, for fashion advice, right?**

Lucy couldn't help but laugh quietly at Ian's response before typing one of her own:

_I know, I know. Annie and Claire aren't available to give advice so I decided you were good enough ;)_

**Wow, I feel honored.**

_Just pick a dress, Harding._

**Fine. Hmm...The third one. I like the back.**

_Thanks, Shmian. I'll see you in a few hours! Xx_

Lucy grinned at Ian's choice of dress; it was the one that showed the most skin. It was strapless and had a black crossed back and a metallic silver belt that connected the coral bust and the black, tight fitting bottom that went down to her mid-thigh. She had never worn it before, but she was excited to wear it now that she knew Ian liked it. Lucy was anxious to see Ian that night; she always got strange feelings when things were going to happen, and she had a good feeling about Claire's party.

Seeing that she had to leave for the party in three short hours, she knew that she had to start getting ready. She took a quick shower then styled her brunette hair into soft curls that fell onto her shoulders. Lucy then applied light makeup on her face before slipping on the dress that Ian chose for her. Taking a look in her full length mirror, she smiled at her appearance. She felt confident and excited for the night ahead. She checked the clock on her phone and saw that two and a half hours had gone by since she last checked. After slipping on her favorite pair of heels, she heard Luke Bryan's voice chime through her phone, signalling that someone was calling her. When she saw who was calling, she smiled.

"Hello, Mr. Harding," she said, drawing out his last name as she spoke. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted a ride to Claire's tonight. Your house is on the way, and I'd feel awkward if I got there before you," he replied with a chuckle.

"Sure!" she exclaimed, a little too excitedly. "When do you think you'll get here?"

"Fifteen minutes, maybe?" Ian's response made Lucy's heart race a bit. She didn't know what was happening to her, why Ian had such an effect on her all of a sudden. According to their fans, Ian felt this way about Lucy, but she didn't think so. She felt like the feelings were one sided, and that fact scared her. She wasn't the best at keeping her feelings a secret, so Ian would probably find out soon, and she was terrified that he would never want to talk to her again. She didn't want to ruin things now that their friendship was back to the way it had been.

"Are you still there, Luce?" Ian asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah sorry. I was just," she paused for a minute before speaking again. "I was just thinking."

"About...?" Ian asked curiously. It sounded like Lucy was worried about something, and he wanted to make sure she was okay.

"Nothing, nothing. I'll um, I'll see you soon." Before Ian even had the chance to reply, Lucy hung up the phone. She sighed and shook her head. He probably thinks I'm crazy now, Lucy thought to herself and fell back onto the bed despondently. These feelings were tearing her apart and she needed to do something about it before she went insane.

Before she knew it, Ian was knocking at her door. She jumped up and made sure her hair and makeup still looked okay before rushing to the door. Lucy gave Ian a smile and a big hug when she saw him. "Hey, Shmian," she said as she pulled away from the hug. She allowed her eyes to roam over his body quickly; he looked good. He wasn't even wearing anything special-just a pair of nice jeans and a button down shirt-but she couldn't help being overwhelmed by his appearance. Before he could realize that she was checking him out, she looked back up at his face.

"Ready to go?" he asked happily and she nodded enthusiastically. They made their way down to Ian's Prius and once both in the car, Ian started it and turned on the radio. Lucy was surprised to hear country music project out of the speakers; she didn't know Ian listened to it.

"Since when do you listen to country music?" she questioned, still somewhat in a state of shock.

Ian shrugged before saying, "You kind of turned me onto it. I actually really enjoy it now."

Lucy smiled proudly to herself. She felt a sense of accomplishment for some reason that she didn't quite understand.

Most of the drive was silent, but a comfortable silence. Silences were never awkward with Ian, something she was grateful for. What broke the silence was when Lucy's song came on the radio. The song that they had both heard on the way to Keegan's Christmas party weeks ago. The song that Lucy had written about Ian. And the song that always seemed to be playing when something momentous for them was going to happen.

"Why are you blushing, Luce?" he asks after glancing over at her. "This is an incredible song, you should be proud of it."

"I am, I just...I don't know. It's still weird to me that my songs play on the radio. It's a crazy feeling that I'm not used to yet."

"Ah, I get it," Ian stated simply.

_No you don't_, Lucy thought to herself. It wasn't his fault, obviously. He just didn't know the truth. The truth that Lucy so badly wanted to tell him, but was far too scared to.

A couple of minutes later, the song was over and they pulled up to Claire's house. By the looks of it, they were the first ones there. Together they walked up to the door and knocked, waiting for Claire to answer. When she did, she pulled them both into a hug and smiled brightly at the both of them after pulling away.

"Y'all look hot," Claire said with a laugh. "I'm so glad both of you could come tonight!"

"Thanks for inviting me," Ian responded politely. He never felt completely comfortable with Lucy's friends except for Claire and Kurt, and it felt good for him to be included in their get togethers.

"Of course! I'm just glad you two are friends again."

"So are we," Lucy and Ian replied in unison then looked at each other and laughed genuinely.

* * *

The night was a fun one, filled with laughter, music, and alcohol. With Ian there, Lucy didn't drink as much for two reasons: one being that he was a protective friend and didn't let her go overboard, and two, she didn't want to drink too much and say something stupid to him. But that didn't stop her from drinking. She was a bit tipsy, but not drunk enough to do something that she would regret, and Ian was the same way. Everyone else was drunk, but no one was as drunk as Annie was. She had no chance of remembering anything the next day.

Before they knew it, the time was closing in on midnight and it was almost time to celebrate the New Year. Something Lucy hadn't thought of prior to inviting Ian was what happened at midnight when everyone kissed their significant other. It was 11:59 and Claire had moved next to Kurt, Annie was with Drew because they had drunkenly decided to be each other's midnight kisses, and Tyler was with the girl he had brought, leaving Lucy and Ian standing alone together, both of them having internal freak outs.

Lucy's heart rate began to quicken as she heard the crowd on the television begin counting down from ten.

"10...9..." She discreetly looked at Ian to see if he was looking at her. He wasn't.

"8...7..." She began nervously tapping her fingers against the exposed skin on her lower thigh.

"6...5..." She took a sip of the champagne she was holding in her hand to try to distract herself.

"4...3..." She set the glass down on the table a little too hard, causing a loud noise.

"2...1..." She looked at Ian to see if he was looking at her now. He was.

"Happy New Years!" She lunged at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, her heels allowing her to easily press her lips firmly against his. Ian was surprised by her bold movement at first, causing his whole body to stiffen up, which made Lucy pull back and blush deeply.

"I'm sorry, Ian," she began quietly. "I-" She was cut off by Ian's lips coming back down against hers passionately. Their lips glided together feverishly, all the emotions they had kept hidden from each other pouring out into the kiss. Her lower lip was captured between his and he could taste the strawberry lip gloss she had applied earlier. This kiss felt much different than the times they kissed as Ezra and Aria. This was real. This was passionate. This was them.

Eventually they had to come up for air, and Lucy rested her forehead against Ian's. They were both breathing heavily, staring each other in the eye. When they were about to dive into another kiss, they heard someone clearing their throat. They turned and saw Claire giving them a knowing grin, causing a rosy blush to appear on both Lucy and Ian's faces. Lucy giggled, but her giggle went away when she saw the look of disgust on Annie's face. She knew Annie had never really liked Ian, but she didn't expect this from her.

"What the hell is going on?" Annie slurred. "Since when have you wanted him. You could do so much better." She spoke with an appalled sound in her voice.

"Annie, stop. You're drunk," Lucy said softly and leaned gently against Ian's body, who immediately wrapped his arms around her body loosely.

"So what? I speak the truth," she continued, shooting Ian a death glare.

"Annie, shut up," Claire said, stepping in to defend both Lucy and Ian.

"I can't deal with this right now," Lucy said, clearly annoyed. She knew Annie meant everything she was saying despite the state she was in; she always spoke her mind when she was drunk. Lucy looked up at Ian apologetically and sighed softly. "Will you take me home?"

He nods and kisses the top of her head softly to try to comfort her, causing her to smile at him. "Of course."

Lucy slipped out of Ian's arms and walked over to Claire, hugging her tightly. "Thank you. For everything. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?" Lucy whispered to her friend as they hugged.

"Don't mention it, Lucebabe. I'm happy for you," Claire replied just as quietly. Lucy unwrapped her arms from around her and walked back over to Ian, absentmindedly slipping her hand into his. She waved goodbye to everyone except Annie, and they were out the door. Once they were outside, Lucy looked up at Ian with worried eyes. "I'm so sorry about Annie. I can't stand her sometimes," she said angrily, tears pooling up in her eyes.

"Luce, it's okay. There's nothing anyone could say that could ruin this night for me."

The tiny brunette smiled up at him through her tears and kissed him softly for a moment before they climbed into Ian's car. She looked at him as he started the car. "Ian?"

He looked at her curiously. "Yeah?"

She bit her lip nervously, hesitating for a minute. "Do you think I could stay at your place tonight? I don't know if Annie's going to come home and I don't want to be there if she does."

Ian smiled sincerely at Lucy and nodded. "Of course you can." Lucy thanked him quietly and rested her head back against her seat as Ian began driving. By the time they reached Ian's house, Lucy was already sound asleep. Ian didn't want to wake her; she looked so peaceful. So he got out of the car and made his way over to her side to pick her up and carry her into his house.

Once they were inside, Ian carried her into his bedroom and laid her down on his bed. He carefully took her shoes and dress on, and managed to slip one of his t-shirts on her without waking her. After Ian was dressed in only boxers and a t-shirt of his own, he joined Lucy on the bed and gently kissed her head. "Goodnight, Luce," he whispered softly before drifting off to sleep himself.

* * *

**Here it is! I hope you liked it. Also I hope there aren't too many mistakes. I didn't have time to read it over completely, oops. Please review!**


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